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First bet for the Grand National - based purely on the comments from Kevin Blake on the Final Furlong Podcast.... that Eddie O'Leary confirmed Don Poli is very much back in training and in answer to him being a Grand NAtional horse... he 'very well could be'

50/1 for a horse I know will stay the trip and has the class to compete (as a previous RSA winner and 3rd in a Gold Cup) - I just cannot resist!

Bradstock also provided a positive update on Step Back, who rounded off last season with victory in the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown.

"He's really good and I think we're learning to deal with the tying up (muscle cramp) problems he's had in the past," Bradstock added. "The Grand National is the long-term target and we'll keep our options open in terms of where we start off. Whether we go for the Hennessy (Ladbrokes Trophy) or the Becher Chase, we'll see. It will slightly depend on the ground, so we'll see what happens."

I don't usually ante this early on the national but Vintage Clouds at 50/1 interests me quite a lot. If you look at the top marks in the national over the past 5 years they've been 160 - 166. At the moment Clouds is at 143, so you would expect a few decent prep runs for him to be at worst low 150s which should put him near the magic 11 stone mark that over the new fences seems to go so well and something I try to stick too. Add to that the form he has displayed in the Scottish National & Ultima and the fact that on the face of it he can go on almost any ground, then I could be very tempted to get on him!